200,000 Titanic-related records are published online

More than 200,000 records relating to the Titanic have been published online to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking on 15 April.

The documents provide information about survivors and the 1,500 people who died, including a number of wills and hundreds of coroner inquest files.

The collection has been gathered by the subscription-based family history website Ancestry.co.uk.

However, access to the Titanic records collection is free until 31 May 2012.

The Titanic, which was built in Belfast, sank in the Atlantic Ocean after hitting an iceberg during its maiden voyage to New York.

The records include the ship’s official passenger list, which shows the names, ages and occupations of those on board the ill-fated liner.

It also details the nationalities, positions and addresses of the ship’s crew which had more than 900 members.

‘Tragic’

The last will and testament of Titanic’s captain, Edward J Smith, is among the documents which can be accessed online.

The wills of wealthy American businessmen Benjamin Guggenheim and John Jacob Astor can also be viewed on the site.

All three men lost their lives in the disaster.

Members of the public can search through more than 329 coroner inquest files and records of the 330 bodies that were recovered at sea.

Images of the grave headstones of 121 passengers have also been published.

The website also has a passenger list from the Carpathia, the vessel which rescued more than 700 people from Titanic.

Ancestry.co.uk content manager, Miriam Silverman, told the Press Association: “Over the generations, many families may have heard rumours that they had an ancestor aboard the Titanic, or even lost the evidence proving it.

“We’re very pleased to be able to offer access to these valuable records for free, enabling thousands to uncover the story of their ancestor’s tragic voyage.”

You are very welcome. :-) I had you in mind when I posted that. I have not been posting all the celebratory articles I see on the Titanic due to my political views and also because I see the Titanic as a great tragedy and not something to celebrate and make money off of, but if you would follow the BBC for the North of Ireland as well as the Belfast Telegraph and perhaps this ‘News Now’ link as well, you can read about a lot of Titanic related news:

I’m all for people learning history, so that’s not it at all, and the story of the Titanic IS fascinating. I find big ships of any kind fascinating. What is so sad is the realisation that the Titanic could easily have carried enough lifeboats and should have been better prepared for disaster. The Wikipedia has a fairly damning exposition of the Captain’s role and also explains how the poor class passengers were, in many cases, locked and guarded and kept from getting to the lifeboats available, which often set off under populated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_RMS_Titanic

Yes what happened to the engineers was terribly sad. The 1st Officer said in his biography he met up with them on the boat deck not long before Titanic sunk.

“But at least people are interested in something historical, so I think that’s a great plus”

Indeed!

I’ve seen talk of the museum and think it would be fascinating to visit. There also a Titanic museum in Branson, Missouri. I’ll be checking out all the links. Nice having a little chat with you, thanks again!